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The Master of Zing: You Can Put Zing in Your Life

ZING! That’s my byword for success. I shouted it at the top of my lungs as I entered the front door of our home. The family gathered around as I, giddy with excitement and grinning from ear to ear, announced that I had actually won the sales contest for a trip to Bermuda. It was the result of closing a deal that no one anticipated I could pull off.

The sunshine on my face created a warm feeling that was enhanced by the cool breeze and smell of the salt air from the ocean. The water, the bluest blue I had ever seen, stood out dramatically against the white sandy beach in front of me. There were pink houses and palm trees. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. It was our first day and I was standing in front of the hotel soaking up the beauty surrounding me.

A gentleman and his wife standing next to me engaged me in conversation; her comment heightened the surreal feeling. “How long have you been here?” I asked. They responded that they had been there for a week and were on their way to the airport that morning to go home. “Don’t do what we did,” his wife admonished. Eager to learn what to avoid, I inquired what they had done. “We loved this so much that we spent the entire day yesterday bemoaning the fact that we had to go home today. This morning, we realized that what we had done was lose the enjoyment of the day because of our attitude. We should have just enjoyed the day,” she said. I promised myself that we would enjoy every day we had there to the fullest.

That was 35 years ago but their regret showed so dramatically that I continue to live by their advice today. They reminded me of how often we waste our lives with “What if’s” and “If only’s.” How tragic that we put off living with phrases that start when we are children: “When I grow up,” “When I turn 21,” “When I get married,” “When the kids leave home” –– “When I retire.” We dream as if there were some magical rose garden in our future instead of enjoying the present. In the process, we miss it all and life is gone.

Soon after, I read an article that along with this incident helped me to live more fully. The sentence that stood out to me was: Every day is a new life to a wise man. Life is about our ability to live in the present, recognizing we can’t change the past and can only deal with the future in the future. What we have is today. We each have only so much psychic energy. When we spend it on things we can do nothing about, we then have none left for the important things. I was taught if something is worth worrying about then it’s worth doing something about. If we’re not willing or able to do something about it, we should spend our energy elsewhere.

How do you implement being in the moment? Whether at work or play, it’s not about physically showing up and having our minds elsewhere. It’s about taking control of our thoughts and focusing on where we are, what we’re doing, NOW. Giving NOW our full attention and doing it to the fullest. That’s how winners get the most out of life.
That creates zing in your life.